OXNARD, California, September 25. AT just 13 years old, Fiona Goh became the youngest female swimmer to swim solo from a California Channel Island to the California mainland, as reported by the Rancho Santa Margarita Patch. The 12-mile swim took Goh just over 10 hours to complete. She started her swim at 4:30 in the morning, battling an array of active sea life to make her way from Anacapa Island to Silver Strand beach in Oxnard, California.

The swim took place this past weekend, breaking a four-decades-old record previously set on August 14, 1971. It is reported that Stacy Frezonki, the former record holder, was 14 years old when she swam from Catalina Island to the California mainland.

“Fiona started her swim at 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning in 65 degree water,” Santa Barbara Channel Swim Association president Scott Zornig said in a press release. “The marine life was very active during her swim as she encountered rays, jelly fish, a pod of dolphins, a half dozen seals and 2 blue whales which breached less than a few hundred yards from her. There are few adults who possess the intestinal fortitude to complete such an endeavor … and only one 13-year-old that I am aware of.”
According to Zornig, there have been approximately 350 solo marathon swims starting from the eight Channel Islands since 1927.

Goh recently started her freshman year at Santa Margarita Catholic, and will compete on her school's swim and water polo teams.